Why iRobot Corporation Stock Popped Today

What happened

Shares of iRobot Corporation (NASDAQ: IRBT) were up 14.7% as of 11:30 a.m. EDT Wednesday after the home robotics specialist announced strong first-quarter 2017 results.

So what

Quarterly revenue climbed 28.8% year over year, to $168.5 million, and would have climbed 31.8% had it not been for $3 million in revenue from the since-divested Defense & Security (D&S) business. On the bottom line, that translated to net income of $16.4 million, or $0.58 per share, up from $3.9 million, or $0.13 per share in the same year-ago period -- though the D&S divestiture reduced last year's Q1 earnings by $0.12 per share. In any case, iRobot easily outpaced investors' expectations for earnings of $0.27 per share on revenue of $154.6 million.

iRobot's Roomba 980. Image source: iRobot.

"Our first quarter results were outstanding," added iRobot chairman and CEO Colin Angle. "Building off the strong momentum we experienced during the year-end holidays, iRobot delivered first quarter 2017 consumer revenue growth of 32% due to growth across all regions."

Now what

Looking forward, iRobot now expects full-year 2017 revenue of $780 million to $790 million (up from previous guidance for $770 million to $785 million), which should result in earnings per share of $1.45 to $1.70 (up from EPS guidance for $1.35 to $1.65 previously).

In the end, this is a straightforward beat and raise from iRobot, and investors have every reason to celebrate its results today.

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Steve Symington owns shares of iRobot. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends iRobot. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.